Like Bubbles in a Bathtub
by Agnostics Puppet
Summary: Harry, bored one night and hyped by his favorite TV show, decided to cast a new spell he just found. You'd think he'd read the directions first. Dimension hopping, not quite badass Harry.
1. Magical Travel SUCKS!

A/N: Stupid plot bunny wouldnt leave me alone and let me write...so I wrote this. Despite the Stargate SG: 1 reference in the chapter, it is **not** a crossover with that series, nor was it inspired by it. If anything, it was inspired by Sliders. Remember that show? I do...I miss it. Leave a review if you'd like. I'd like it if you did please. Just please dont ask when Im bringing the Stargate in...

* * *

It was a cool, breezy summer night in Godric's Hollow. The stars that shone over the village were bright since everyone had gone to bed. Everyone save the person and his owl in one house.

This house had a bit of an infamous reputation amongst the magical population of the village. Nineteen years ago on Halloween night a very dark wizard had attacked this very house, attacking and killing the young couple that lived there and destroying the house. Their one year old child had somehow survived, even managing to vanquish the dark wizard that had killed his family, and became somewhat of a hero. In the following years, the child went on to become a very powerful wizard in his own right. He lived up to the expectations of the people and became a real hero, finally killing the dark wizard who had returned over a decade after his defeat.

Then, after a brief interview, the young wizard vanished completely from society.

No one could find him, not even his friends or family that he had made over the years. There were sightings, of course. No one ever manages to vanish that completely without any evidence. Even the famous American wizard turned rock and roll star, Elvis Presley managed to escape completely. But the young wizard managed to keep away well enough. That isn't to say however that weren't looking for him either. His friends and family _were_ looking for him, trying to bring him back into the society that he had saved by necessity.

The young wizard had been the subject of a prophecy that foretold either his death, or victory over the one responsible for the murder of his family. People had expected this, and more of him, and he begrudgingly delivered. But his disgust with the corrupt, inbred ways of wizarding society let to his self imposed exile.

It was funny, in a way, how he had hidden himself in the place it had all started. Late in the night, not long after his interview and disappearance, he had come and discreetly repaired the house of his youth. The charms and wards he placed around it kept muggles and magical people alike away, and kept it looking like the ramshackle ruin it had been before he arrived. No one had thought to question the magic around the house; after all, a very powerful dark wizard had been defeated there. Of course had they bothered to check, they would have found something much more important that they just remembered and trundled off to do that instead.

This very night, the young wizard was hard at work pouring over a tome at the desk in his room, his owl familiar perched on the back of his chair reading along.

* * *

**(((o)))**

* * *

Harry Potter rubbed his eyes blearily. He had been at his desk all day having been completely absorbed into the book he was reading. He couldn't help himself really; it was a very interesting book despite its battered condition. It had been willed to him by the late Albus Dumbledore. A year ago, one year after Voldemort's defeat at Harry's hands, the ancient headmaster had died naturally comfortable in his bed, and had willed almost everything he owned to Harry. Harry didn't care, really. He was happy about the books and a few of the devices Dumbledore had owned; namely the pensieve and one device that could unravel wards like a spool of cloth if the wizard was powerful enough to use it.

Harry didn't think he was callous or cruel to be uncaring about the death of the old man. In Harry's mind, Dumbledore had gotten what he deserved. He had never really forgiven the Headmaster after his fifth year, and after Remus had been killed on a mission for the order, his opinion had fallen even further. Dumbledore had apologized to Harry repeatedly but Harry remembered a saying he had heard from a tourist from Mississippi. The man had looked directly at him and said, "Once bitten, twice shy, my friend. Forgive but never forget."

Harry tried to adopt that outlook when it came to Dumbledore, but he was just unable to let it go. The old man had ruined any chance at a childhood that Harry had ever had. Did he really think that a simple apology would fix everything between him? It hadn't. It was this attitude that drove people away from Harry.

Dumbledore had always had some aura about him that attracted followers. _Much like a moths to an open flame_, Harry mused. The other members of the order and indeed, even Hermione and the Weasley's just couldn't, or refused to understand just how Harry felt and abandoned him. Harry was fine with this though. Hedwig, Hagrid and Dobby had remained loyal to him. Hagrid was a surprise too. He was the last person Harry would have expected to forsake Dumbledore for him. Still, he had been touched.

He had a crick in his neck from sitting in the same position for hours on end. He had mechanically eaten whatever had been set on the desk next to him by his house elf, Dobby. Twisting his neck around to relieve the crick, he saw that it was dark outside. Surprised, he checked his watch.

11:43 P.M.

Realizing that he had been in the same position for over nine hours without relieving himself, Harry rushed off to use the toilet. When he got back, Hedwig, his snowy white owl familiar was still on her perch, glaring balefully at him. Harry bristled. "Don't look at me like that!" he snapped. He leveled a finger accusingly at her. "You were just as absorbed in that book, and you can't even read."

The owl ruffled her feathers and hooted at him.

"You could have let me know you were hungry you know," Harry shot back. He left the room to fetch Hedwig a fresh mouse and when he had returned, Hedwig hooted apologetically at him.

"I'm sorry too, girl," he said stroking her feathers as he held the mouse to her. "I shouldn't have neglected you."

As Hedwig plucked the dead rodent off his palm, Harry couldn't suppress his smirk. Had someone walked in on the conversation he and his owl just had, they would have thought that he and Hedwig were able to talk to one another. And they would be correct to a point. Harry and Hedwig could read each others emotions and thoughts.

It was more than the simple familiar bond that he and Hedwig had formed when the first met. A month into his sixth year, their new potions teacher, a man by the name of Horace Slughorn had them brewing a potion that was used to give owls their messenger abilities. The Slytherins, angry that Harry had succeeded so well without Snape breathing down his neck, had decided to sabotage his potion. One of them, Harry still wasn't sure who had disillusioned a pile of feathers and owl pellets (the regurgitated bones and fur) and then levitated them into his simmering potion. The potion had reacted badly and exploded in his face, and Harry ended up in a coma.

When Harry awoke over a week later, he was an owl. Well…an owl animagus, specifically an eagle owl. The potion had somehow forced his form and given him the ability to communicate with his familiar telepathically while in his human form. Slughorn had been at a loss as to why, but Harry didn't care. He was an animagus now, _and_ he had managed to skip out on all the hard parts.

After stroking Hedwig's feathers a few more times, Harry let her eat in peace. He went back to the desk with the intention of closing the book and re-shelving it before heading to bed, but something caught his eye. The next spell in the book was preceded by a warning…

**Warning: Use the following spell at your own risk. The author of this book claims no responsibility for any damage caused to the caster or premises when the spell is utilized. Nor does the author claim responsibility for the well being of the caster should the spell be cast at the wrong time.**

Harry's eyebrows rose in interest. Spells that people often warned him against were, in his opinion, some of the most interesting. He decided to put the book away after reading about this spell. Thirty minutes later, Harry could hardly think about sleeping. The spell was a way of opening a gateway to other worlds.

Harry had a television set and had managed to ward it against magic thought it wasn't easy by any stretch. Getting satellite reception to a house that was as heavily warded as Harry's had been a challenge as well, but Harry had done it. He had been determined if for one reason and one reason alone.

He was hooked on a show called Stargate SG: 1.

Now he would have his own chance to visit other worlds and he wasn't about to pass up this opportunity.

Hedwig had finished her mouse and started to read over Harry's shoulder when he jumped up and shouted, "I'm going to do it!" Hedwig screeched at him and flapped over to perch on the fireplace mantle. "Sorry Hedwig," he said sheepishly.

He hurried from the room before a mental question from the owl had him coming back in. "Oh, sorry," he berated himself before explaining. "I'm going to use that spell to see other worlds. Would you like to come?"

Hedwig looked back at him as if to say, "Are you stupid? Of course I'm coming with," which she probably did say.

Harry laughed and shrugged. "Sorry, silly question."

Harry found his trunk in the room he had claimed. It had been the guest room in the modest three bedroom house. It would have been creepy sleeping in his parent's room and Harry didn't think he could withstand the psychological torture of sleeping in the same room his mother died in. He avoided the living room, where his father died, for that same reason and primarily stuck to the kitchen, the study and his room. Quickly, he packed everything he thought might come in useful in another world. He stuffed a few useful books in there, including his own personal spell book with spells he and he alone could cast. He was surprised at just how easy it was to create your own spells. Simply modifying the arithmantic equations on an existing spell might create something completely different and arithmancy was nothing more than wizarding math.

One of his favorite spells was a modification on a disillusionment charm that would 'bend' the light around you making you effectively invisible, even more so than a regular disillusionment charm. With the regular charm, a person would appear as a very dim hazy outline but would still be hard to spot. Even Mad-eye's magic eye couldn't spot Harry when he was under his spell. It was the secret to his successful hermitage. Yet another spell was a modification on the normal stunner. He had modified it so that only _his_ _enervate_ would wake a person prematurely _and_ it would decimate anyone's shield. Harry had nicknamed it the 'shield eater'. The last in the list was an anti gravity 'bubble' of sorts that needed to be cast around a ward stone. Harry would then use a switching spell on something he was targeting, activate the ward and wave 'goodbye' as the target floated away.

These three spells were his favorites since they were what he defeated Voldemort with. It was absurdly simple. Invisible, he had crept up on the dark lord during a raid. Voldemort knew he was at the raid, since he was linked to Harry through the scar, but he didn't know where exactly he was. Harry waited until he was right up on the dark lord and used his modified stunner on the monster. Then, he simply used a permanent sticking charm to adhere the ward stone to Voldemort, activated it and waved 'goodbye' as he floated away. Harry didn't know if Voldemort was dead per say, but he did know that the dark lord wasn't coming back any time soon. _And _the scar pain had stopped.

Next in the trunk was his invisibility cloak. As nice as his spell was, if someone knew somehow that he was there, the spell could still be removed with a simple _finite incantatum_. The cloak couldn't. Following the cloak were spare clothing, his Firebolt (always handy to be able to fly), and a magic pouch full of every galleon to his name. Just before his self-exile, he had everything he had pulled from Gringott's Bank. The goblins weren't happy about it, as they were losing literally _billions_ of galleons in potential profit, but Harry didn't care. He needed money to live, and a hermit couldn't very well waltz into town and make a withdrawal. All the Potter family artifacts were housed safely in the vault at the well protected, long lost and hidden Potter Manor.

He was taking the galleons and only the galleons with him for one reason. Gold is universally valuable. He was sure that any society that he encountered would need or covet the gold and having a few thousand tons of gold with him would be handy. The last thing to go in the trunk was the photo album he had been given in his early years at Hogwarts. After that, he shrunk the trunk and pocketed it.

Hurrying back into the study where Hedwig was still waiting, Harry picked up the book he had been reading. He skimmed the passages for what he needed, ignoring anything that didn't seem relevant at the time. Finally memorizing the wand movements and the _very_ long incantation Harry got ready. The first step was to draw a rune circle using talcum powder or salt. Harry didn't know if there was any talc in the house, but Dobby had been a little over abundant on the last shopping trip and Harry had salt. Harry had enough salt to last him for about ten years actually…

While sprinkling the salt in the required pattern and shaping the runes, Harry wondered what he would see. He wasn't worried about coming across an airless world since he could cast a bubble head charm, but he was a bit worried about any world with caustic atmospheres. Still, he knew a few spells that could protect him, and his travel cloak was warded to protect him against minor atmosphere discomfort. His broom would get him wherever he needed to go. Food…

He needed food. He wouldn't know any of the plants on most of the worlds he visited so a food supply would be a good idea. Plus, he needed to take care of Dobby. No where in the instructions for the ritual did it say it couldn't be interrupted, so he called for the excitable little elf.

Dobby appeared with a loud crack. "Master Harry Potter calls for Dobby?"

Harry sighed. "I told you to call me Harry, Dobby. Just Harry."

Dobby nodded. "Yes Master Harry. What can Dobby do for you?"

Harry sighed again, this time rubbing a hand down his face. He supposed that being called 'Master Harry' was as good as it would get from the elf. That and it didn't matter much since he was leaving anyway. "I'm going on a trip Dobby, and I need you to do something for me." Dobby nodded so eagerly that his ears actually flapped. "I need you to load up my refrigerator (Harry enchanted it to work like a wooden chill box) with everything you can think of for an extended camping trip."

Dobby looked crestfallen. "Master Harry no longer wants Dobby?" he asked with shimmering eyes. Before Harry had a chance to clarify himself, the elf broke down in tears. "Dobby had been a bad elf! Dobby will punish himself now!"

As soon as Dobby made to bash his head against the corner of Harry's desk, Harry grabbed him. "No Dobby! No, you've been wonderful," he soothed the writhing elf. Dobby stilled.

"Does Master Harry mean that?" he asked.

Harry nodded. "Yes Dobby, I do. What I need you to do is go to Hogwarts and ask Professor McGonagall for your old job back until I get back from my trip. I'm sure she'll give it to you."

While Dobby was in the kitchen stuffing everything he could get into the refrigerator, Harry gathered the rest of what he just remembered he might need. He gathered any toiletries, a towel (a muggle book he had read told him to always have a good clean towel), and some toilet paper. He figured he could conjure anything else he needed but only as a last resort. His conjuration wasn't that good. Lastly, he packed the book in his trunk with the rest of his stuff and waited on Dobby.

Finally Dobby came staggering into the room hefting the entire refrigerator in his tiny arms. "Dobby is done, Master Harry," the elf wheezed.

"Merlin's hairy balls!" Harry swore. He levitated the appliance off of Dobby and the elf collapsed in a grateful heap. "I could have come get it," he scolded gently.

Dobby gasped from the plush red carpet. "Nonsense. Master Harry is…a great wizard…Dobby can do…what Master Harry needs…"

Harry couldn't hold in his chuckle, especially at Hedwig's scathing remark. He threw a tepid glare her way that she discretely ignored. "Go to Hogwarts now Dobby. And thank you for everything."

Dobby would have made an effort to hug Harry's legs had he not been so burned out. "Master Harry…is a great wizard. Dobby will see you soon…" And with that he cracked away from his prone, facedown position on the carpet. Harry shrunk the refrigerator and put it in his trunk then re-shrunk his trunk. Harry just shook his head at Dobby then turned toward Hedwig.

"Ready to go girl?" he asked. Hedwig flew over and perched on his shoulder, butting her head softly against Harry's in a show of affection. She almost never nipped his ear or finger anymore, instead making physical or eye contact. Harry took her answer as a yes.

With one last check to make sure everything was right, Harry began the incantation and wand movement. It was complex, but he was certain he had gotten it right. He _knew_ it was right when a magical wind picked up, and it was strong enough to lift the desk and bookcases in the room and start spinning them around Harry and Hedwig. He was starting to get a bad feeling about this…

Suddenly, lightning began to strike _up_ from the edges of the rune circle and make scorch marks on the ceiling. Hedwig screeched and dug her talons into Harry's shoulder painfully. Harry agreed with her rather panicked statement. Time to get out of the circle. He stepped out of the circle as quickly as possible…

Or at least tried to. He might as well have been trying to walk through a brick wall, and not the one separating 9 ¾ from the rest of Kings Cross Station. He staggered back, nearly unseating Hedwig. "Well…" he said. His voice was flat. "What now?" Hedwig scooted closer to Harry's head and leaned against it. She was scared. Harry felt bad that he was doing this to her and scooped the bird into his arms to better protect her. He was glad he did.

What he could only describe as a black hole opened above his head and began to draw the lightning into it. The electricity was coming dangerously closer to him and he couldn't move lest he- There it was. One of the lighting bolts arced through him, entering his right buttock and exiting Hedwig's open, screeching beak. Harry felt his consciousness slipping away and the last thing he remembered was the black hole moving down and enveloping him.

* * *

**(((o)))**

* * *

When Harry awoke with a headache and one thing on his mind; he now had a new least favorite form of magical travel. It used to be floo. Not only did floo make him nauseous from the spinning, but when he emerged from the fireplace on the other end, he was filthy and sprawled on his ass. Portkeys weren't too bad over all. He could never stick the landing but at least the discomfort was minor. This new form of travel not only made you sick, but it struck you with lightning. That was pretty bad in Harry's book. Now if he could just figure out why exactly he was still in his house. He was in his bed looking at the canopy to be precise.

Harry sat up slowly, favoring his left butt cheek. The right one was still felt burned from the lightning bolt. His back hurt something awful and his mouth felt like he had eaten half the salt he used in the spell. Add those to the headache and he vowed that he would never use that teleport spell _ever_ again. Finally he managed to open his eyes.

"Welcome home, Master Potter!"

The sudden trio of voices nearly scared Harry out of his skin. He shot out from underneath his blankets and planted his back against the headboard of the bed while reaching for his wand. Unfortunately, he had ended up in just his boxers somehow and his wand was nowhere within reach. Then he noticed his _attackers_. A trio of house elves was standing at the foot of his bed looking at him with the same look that Dobby usually had in his eyes. One of them, the smallest was female and all of them were dressed in tea towels with the Potter crest on it.

None of them were familiar to Harry. "Th-thanks?" he stuttered. It came out as more of a question.

The youngest male spoke up. "We never thought we would be seeing you again since…" he trailed off and seemed to glance at the corners of the room as if searching for eavesdroppers. He then went on in a whisper. "That night…"

The tallest and obviously eldest of, if his wrinkly skin and wispy white hair were any indication, the trio glared at the other male. Harry had to admit that it looked fairly intimidating. "Quiet, Wiggy!" he scolded. Harry's mental note pad was a bit singed, but he tried anyway. _The small male is Twiggy_. "You knows better than to talks about that night."

Wiggy cringed away from the angry elder elf. "Wiggy is sorry Rumpo sir." He pleaded. "Please do not be making Wiggy shut his hands in the oven."

Harry added to his mental note. _The old elf is Rambo._

Rumpo seemed to soften. "There will be no punishments today," he said before turning and smiling at Harry. "Master Potter is home."

"Uh…thanks." Harry said lamely. From what he could gather, these were his elves somehow. "Ok, I know Twiggy, and Rambo, but who is she?" he asked pointing at the demure female elf.

Wiggy and Rumpo seemed a bit put out by Harry's butchery of their names, but introduced the fourth party anyway. "She be Soxy, Master Potter." Harry nodded at the elf and she blushed.

_Twiggy, Rambo and Sucky. What horrid names for elves,_ Harry mused. Then a more pressing need than memorizing his elves names hit him. He needed to get rid of his headache and get some moisture in his mouth. "Ok. I need four things," he said. The elves snapped to attention, eager to please him. Harry paused and added something else to his list. "First, none of this Master Potter crap. I'm just Harry." The elves nodded. "Second, I need the stuff that was in my clothes. Third, my clothes. Fourth and most importantly, a glass of water and a headache relief potion if you have one."

As the elves popped away, Harry realized that he had forgotten a cauldron and potion ingredients. It didn't matter now, since the spell hadn't worked. It just hurt him and…Hedwig! Where was his owl?

The elves popped back and Harry gratefully downed the water and the potion, sighing in relief when his headache faded. Rumpo put his tiny trunk and wand, which looked like it was brand new on the night stand next to him. He looked back at the elves to ask where Hedwig was, but noticed Rumpo looking like his mother just died, and Twiggy looked like he needed to pee. It usually meant he had a question but didn't just want to blurt it. He decided to address the old elf first. "What's wrong…uh…Rambo?"

"Rumpo," the old elf corrected miserably. "Rumpo is a bad elf. Rumpo could not fix Master Harry's clothes." The elf held out the tattered remains of what Harry had cast the spell in. Harry was a bit put out that his environmental cloak had been charred and shredded, but he knew the runes and could make another.

"That's fine Rumpo," he placated, making sure to get the old elf's name right. "I have more clothes. Thank you for my wand and trunk." Rumpo looked like he was about to burst into tears and began muttering about how 'he hadn't been thanked since the mistress', and how 'Master Harry was a great wizard'. Harry wondered just why he had that effect on house elves.

He then turned to Wiggy. "Wiggy was it?" He asked. Wiggy nodded quickly and Harry rolled his eyes. "Ask…"

Wiggy blurted out his question. "Who is the pretty lady you arrived with?" he asked almost too quickly to understand.

Two things stood out in the question to Harry. First, what lady? Second, arrived? Had he actually gone somewhere? He decided to ask first question for now. He was most worried about Hedwig. "What lady?" he voiced. "I had an owl with me, if that's who you mean." He glanced at Soxy who blushed deeply and looked away. _Great, Ginny as a house elf…_

Wiggy shook his head quickly hurried over to the side of the bed. "Come Master Harry. Wiggy shows you." He said excitedly. With out any preamble, he grabbed Harry's hand and dragged him down the hall to his parent's room. As he left his room, he was able to make out subtle differences. For one, the house smelled stale, like it had been kept clean but not lived in for a very long time. Two, none of his personal touches were around. There were feathers from his owl form that he used as slight decorative touches around his house. Cho had called it a version of feng-shui. It made it feel more like his home, but the feathers were gone. Granted, the elves could have cleaned them, but he was getting a very bad feeling about this. But before he could really take anything in, he was in his parent's room looking at a very nice sight on their bed.

There was a very attractive girl lying there, only a sheet covering the fact that she was very naked. At first, Harry thought she was a Veela, or at least part Veela, but then he noticed the lack of an aura. Her long hair was so blonde it was almost white, but then again, it might just be the lighting of the room. Her skin was a soft peach color and looked very smooth. The sheets were clinging so closely to her that Harry could tell she was hairless…everywhere but her head. And she had breasts that were just perfect to Harry; not too big, not too small. She muttered something in her sleep and turned over, the sheet sliding off of her and giving Harry and the elves a very nice view of her pert bum.

Harry swallowed thickly. There was something very familiar about this girl…

"This is the girl Wiggy tells you about, sir," Wiggy said softly so as not to wake her.

"I…don't know here. At least I don't think I do," Harry said equally soft. "I had an owl with me. Snowy white, yellow eyes. About this big." He held his hands about two feet apart.

The elves all shook their heads. "No owl," Soxy said, speaking up for the first time. Harry looked her in the eyes and she blushed but stoically maintained eye contact. If Harry had to guess, Soxy was very young, probably teenage for an elf. "Just the girl." She reached up as high as she could, holding a small, white feather in her hands. She only reached up about three feet. "The girl had this in her hair. Soxy saved it. Maybe girl eat owl?"

"Thank you," Harry said as he took the feather from the tiny elf and looked at it. It was definitely one of Hedwig's feathers. That could only mean…

He looked back at the girl who finally stirred and sat up in the bed. She seemed disoriented and woozy as she glanced about the room and Harry could see now that her hair was snowy white. His eyes however were drawn to two things; her yellow eyes and her now bare breasts. He forced himself to look back up into the girl's bright yellow eyes, dreading what would happen next. "Hedwig?" he asked.

The girl focused on Harry, her face lighting up in recognition. She nearly fell out of the bed in her haste to get over to him and staggered drunkenly across the floor before throwing her arms around his neck happily. She cooed and nuzzled the side of his face with her cheek.

"Oh boy…"


	2. Teaching Hedwig

A/N: Hmm. Didnt think so many would like this. Oh well. Here's chapter two.

* * *

Harry finally managed to pry the white haired girl off of him, much to her displeasure. Hell, Harry wasn't sure if she really was Hedwig or not, he just had a hunch to go by. He sat back to ponder things and the girl gave a small grunt of displeasure. As he sat there thinking, his gaze was drawn to her…assets. If this really was Hedwig, she had been given a very nice figure. She blushed prettily and smiled under Harry's scrutiny.

Harry estimated that she stood about 5' 2" tall and weighted about eight to eight and a half stone (110 to 120 pounds). Her hair, now that she was out from underneath the bed canopy, was snowy white and hung down to her mid back. Her skin was pale and her eyes were large and a bright yellow color. The thing that stood out the most though was her finger and toe nails. They were long and very sharp, much like talons would be.

He decided to ask the girl some questions. "Can you understand me?" he started. The girl nodded. "Good…" He stopped for a moment to think of some suitable questions to ask her. Obviously if she was Hedwig first and foremost. He also needed to find out if she could speak. Finally, if she really was Hedwig, he needed to ask if she remembered anything from the trip and if she could change back into an owl. For that matter, he needed to see if _he_ himself could still change, but that could come later.

"Are you really Hedwig?" he asked. The girl nodded again. Harry couldn't sense any lies from her with his meager legillimency skills, so he decided to take that answer as truth. Still, he was having a hard time reconciling the fact that the very attractive girl sitting on the floor with him was his faithful owl familiar. "Really?"

Hedwig looked put out. She sighed and nodded again, a little more forcefully this time.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," he placated. "Can you speak? English I mean."

Hedwig looked at him like he was stupid, and as they made eye contact, Harry got his first empathic feeling from the girl. She was irritated and very confused. But what worried him more was the fact that he couldn't hear her thoughts. He sincerely hoped that the trip hadn't damaged their familiar bond.

"Can you change back?" he finally asked. His answer was more confusion from the girl. "Into an owl." Hedwig blinked owlishly at him, something that Harry found inordinately funny given the circumstances. Once his howling laughter calmed down and he was able to think coherently again, a thought occurred to him. Did Hedwig not know that she had changed? If she could change back, she might be the first ever humanimagus…

"Do me a favor and look at your wing, girl."

Hedwig did so, and with a startled shriek, nearly fell over in shock. Once she recovered herself she seemed fascinated with her hand and fingers. She spent the next ten minutes examining them then moved on to feeling her face with her new hands. She was absolutely absorbed in exploring her new body. Harry stopped her before she started doing something questionable. He gently took her hands in his. "So, can you change back?" he asked.

But that was the last thing on Hedwig's mind. She looked like she had a sudden epiphany. Her intense gaze met his and Harry was almost overcome with intense feelings of joy and love before she pounced on him, trapping him in a very passionate and very naked hug. Only Harry could be caught up in a situation like this; having a beautiful girl who used to be his owl familiar trying to seduce him. Still, he had to admit it was a very nice feeling. Looking down at Hedwig's nakedness, he changed his game plan slightly.

"First things first…clothes…"

* * *

**(((o)))**

* * *

An hour and a half an hour later found Harry and Hedwig fully dressed and sitting in the study. Harry fished something out of the dresser in his room, and the house elves found a periwinkle and powder blue set of robes for Hedwig to wear. As Hedwig dressed, Soxy asked if Hedwig was going to eat her too, since she imagined that elves didn't taste too different from owls. How she had come to that conclusion, Harry wasn't sure, so he dismissed the elves for the day.

One problem had been solved, but a few more popped up in its place. The first and most important was that Hedwig was for all intents and purposes fully human now. Half an hour ago, she had tried for ten minutes to change back into her normal, snowy owl self, but only managed to shatter every piece of glass in the house with a burst of uncontrolled magic. The house elves went about repairing the shattered windows and dinnerware glaring angrily at Hedwig while Harry picked himself up off the floor. He dusted himself off. "Well, at least we know now that you're a witch."

The second problem presented itself in the missing telepathic bond. It was well and good trying to interpret Hedwig's emotions and all, but Harry quickly grew frustrated trying to pick out what she meant among the overwhelming feelings of affection. He wondered just how long Hedwig had these feeling for him and honestly found it a bit creepy. Plus, since she couldn't speak either, she couldn't cast any spells with her newly acquired magic.

The third was what to do about their situation. Harry wasn't quite convinced that the spell worked. Sure, he now had a trio of strange house elves replacing Dobby, but everything was where he had left it. The house did have a strange, un-lived in feel to it, but beyond that everything was genuine right down to the placement of his owl feathers. Hedwig had taken to wearing one in her hair and following Harry like a lost puppy.

After a wonderful lunch prepared by the trio of elves, Harry sat down with the book that got him into this mess and decided to find out just what had happened. Hedwig decided to chase a shrieking Soxy around the house once she found out that the tiny elf was afraid of her. The two of them made a game of it.

**Adjacent Reality Spell**

Harry reread the warning just to make sure that he hadn't missed anything and was relieved to see that he hadn't. This time he skipped the incantation, wand movement and preparation and studied the spell effects. The more he read, the more he realized just how screwed he was.

_The Adjacent Reality Spell will only take the caster and their desired possessions into a reality where the caster is dead or different._

_Well _that's_ specific,_ Harry groused. What exactly did they mean by 'different'? Could there be an evil Harry running about in this dimension instead of a Voldemort? Or had Harry somehow died here? Harry decided to find out later and started reading more.

_There are a few restrictions on this spell. First, while it can be cast at any time, any where, it is best cast out of doors to minimize damage to the surroundings. Secondly, it will only affect the caster. Nothing organically living can be taken along. The effects to the spell are unknown should the caster do so, but you can bet that it will not be good._

"I bloody well know now, don't I?" Harry sighed. The spell may have simply sucked him up and spit him back in the same dimension a few days later after changing Hedwig. He may have cursed his friend to a horrible fate as a human. Harry knew that should he ever get stuck in his owl form, he would probably go crazy. It may have had something to with Hedwig's feelings for him. She seemed so very happy to finally be able to be with Harry as a human and didn't look disappointed at all that she couldn't manage to change back. And she didn't seem to mind the current situation at all, judging by her and Soxy's giggles from the living room.

Harry finished reading about the spell a few minutes later. The only other thing that he got from the book was perhaps the most worrisome.

_Upon the next total solar eclipse, the spell will finish its duration and pull the caster back to their original reality._

To Harry, this meant two things. First, if the spell hadn't worked, either nothing would happen or he would be pulled into another reality and be stuck there. Secondly, if it _had_ worked, would he be able to bring Hedwig back with him or would she be stuck here?

Harry went over to a cubby where he kept his star and sky charts to check when the next solar eclipse would be. According to the chart, the next one would happen in a little over a week. Until then, he needed to figure things out.

Hedwig came back into the room with Soxy giggling and slung over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. When she saw Harry's forlorn expression she set Soxy down and ran over to sit next to him. She threw her arms around his shoulders and nuzzled the nape of his neck while making cooing noises. Harry supposed that she could feel his dark mood. He hugged her back until she let go, though she kept on hand on his leg. They needed a course of action and looking into Hedwig's eyes, Harry decided on the first move. "We are going to teach you to speak."

Hedwig proved to be very bright and over the course of the afternoon she learned communicate in broken English. She tended to pronounce her 'w's' with a definite 'wh' sound, and had trouble with pronouns like 'you', 'me' and 'I'. Instead she referred to everyone by name, but if those were the only problems she had, Harry was still very proud of her. Her voice was melodic and tinkling and reminded Harry of Fleur's. By the time they were ready for bed the owl-girl was talking his ears off and showed no sign of stopping.

Finally, Hedwig showed signs that she was tired and yawned widely. Harry guided her upstairs into his parent's old room and left Soxy with the task of helping her change for bed. But as he went across the hall into his room, he was overwhelmed with feelings of loneliness and fear. He turned around and saw Hedwig looking at him imploringly. Her hands were clutched over her heart and she was shaking. Soxy was looking helplessly up at Hedwig from the hems her blue robes. After the day they had, Harry couldn't fault Hedwig for feeling the way she was but he didn't feel comfortable sleeping with her. "I'll just be across the hall," he said soothingly.

"Harry no leave Hedwig," she pleaded. Her eyes were wide and watery and she looked about to cry.

Harry couldn't resist. He was never very good with weepy girls, especially those as close to him as Hedwig was. "Fine," he sighed. Hedwig rushed over and clung to him like a toddler and he led her into his room.

Once in the bedroom, she let go and looked around in wonder. It was the first time she had been in there as a human and everything looked different from her perspective. Harry stripped down to his boxers and pulled the bed covers back before crawling in. He watched Hedwig for a minute before saying, "Well? Come on."

Hedwig stripped off her robes revealing that while the house elves had done a good job dressing her, they hadn't supplied her with any undergarments. She was naked. Again. And she was about to crawl into bed with Harry. He groaned miserably. Why couldn't normal women act like this around him? Why did it have to be his owl of all people? Hedwig did one more thing, pulling the black feather out of her hair and setting it reverently on the night stand before crawling under the covers with him and cuddling to his side.

Harry sighed resignedly. "Good night, Hedwig," he said kissing her on the top of the head.

"Good night, my Harry," she replied sleepily.

As Harry tried to fall asleep with an attractive naked woman clinging to him, he decided that tomorrow he would go into Diagon Alley and find out just what was going on.

* * *

**(((o)))**

* * *

The next morning got of to a terrible start. Harry woke with a migraine that he attributed to the stupid spell and had Hedwig's face buried in his crotch of all places. Hedwig didn't want to get up either, just moaning and clinging to him tighter when he tried to wake her. Finally after a few minutes of struggle, it took apparating out of the bed to get away from her. It was also helpful in that the loud crack it created startled Hedwig out of the bed and treated Harry with a nice sight since she was still naked.

"Harry mean…" she mumbled sleepily. Her hair was rumpled and Harry had to admit that she really was cute.

He gathered his stuff together and went to take a shower but stopped when he realized that Hedwig had followed him into the bathroom. "What is this room?" she asked.

Harry froze. Hedwig had never seen him bathe before so she wouldn't know what the bathroom was. She also wouldn't know how to bathe herself. Harry gritted his teeth and resisted the urge to swear. "It is the bathroom," he answered. He didn't really know how or even want to explain what the room was used for and hoped to Merlin that she wouldn't ask. She did.

"What does Harry do in here?"

Harry groaned. What followed was a stuttering, red faced and clipped summary of the uses of a bathroom. Hedwig looked slightly confused.

"Owls go on ground. Is easier that way," she said matter-of-factly. Harry laughed in spite of himself.

"Okay then, well I need to shower so…" he said. He turned back to the tub and twisted the faucets. It was harder this time to resist the urge to swear as Hedwig stepped into the tub. She slipped slightly but managed to catch herself.

"Harry show Hedwig how to clean?" she asked innocently. Harry could only feel honest curiosity through the bond.

Harry nearly choked and he felt himself blush all the way down to his chest. He was no stranger to women, but there was something about this situation that had him flustered like a first year all over again. Hedwig was his best friend of nine years now. Never in his wildest dreams did he think that this situation would happen. Still, he could feel nothing but the curiosity and desire to learn through the bond. There was the slightest undertone of lust, but he wasn't sure if it was Hedwig, or himself. "I-I suppose…" he stuttered.

Hedwig jumped happily, her chest doing interesting things before she nearly slipped again. This time Harry caught her. She blushed slightly as he set her upright, his earlier embarrassment all but forgotten. "Careful now," he admonished lightly.

Harry stripped out of his underwear and closed the curtain. He grabbed the soap and wandlessly duplicated the slightly used bar. While Harry knew a few charms to clean oneself in the shower, he still enjoyed lathering up. "This is soap," he explained handing her one. "You use it to wash your skin with."

Harry watched mirthfully as Hedwig sniffed the white bar of soap then took a small bite of it. She grimaced and spat the small chunk out. "Why Harry not tell Hedwig soap taste bad?" she asked. She scraped her tongue with her fingernails only managing to get more soap taste in her mouth. Laughing quietly to himself, Harry scooted to the side and let her wash her mouth out under the warm spray.

Harry shrugged. "You seemed very intent on it," he laughed. Hedwig went back to examining the soap that was now wet. She was having a hard time holding the slippery bar. "Okay, now make a lather with it," he instructed showing her how to make a thick lather.

Hedwig tried, but with only one day of practice with her new body, she was clumsy and dropped the bar. It slid down toward the drain at the end and she bent over get to pick it up giving Harry a very nice view of her bum. Harry whimpered. "God, why are you making this so hard for me…?" he whispered.

Once Hedwig managed to grab the soap she gave it a death glare. She ended up dropping it again, but before she could get it again, Harry said, "Here, let me." He gave her his bar and helped her lather up. He tried to keep his thoughts out of the gutter as he washed her and was only marginally successful. Hedwig couldn't resist tasting the foamy soap and immediately spit it out. "Stop it," Harry said.

"But it look so tasty," Hedwig complained.

"Well, it's not, is it?" Harry asked. Hedwig shook her head. Next Harry showed her how to wash her hair. She was able to do that fairly easily, only getting the suds in her eyes once. Harry helped her get it out of her eye. Once they were clean, he dried Hedwig and wrapped her in the towel. He called for Soxy and the young elf popped into the bathroom. Harry had conveniently forgotten that he was naked, but Soxy didn't seem to care.

"How can Soxy help Master Harry?" she squeaked.

"Please take Hedwig to her room and help her get dressed. Make sure you give her proper undergarments this time," he said.

Soxy nodded and led Hedwig out of the bathroom. As soon as they were gone Harry sagged in relief. That had been one of the most awkward and humiliating experiences of his life.

Twenty minutes later, Harry was dressed in black jeans, a dark green sweat shirt and a black robe and was still waiting on Hedwig. "Of course," he muttered as he paced back and forth. "She's only been a human female for a day and she already has one of their most annoying habits down."

In Harry's opinion, the worst was Hannah Abbot. The two of them had dated briefly out of Hogwarts and Harry had found out the hard way that Hannah was very vain about her personal appearance. It had taken the blonde girl over an hour to simply get ready for dinner and a muggle movie. Surprisingly enough, Lavender had been the most lax with her appearance in direct contrast with how she was in school. That's not to say she didn't care for herself, but by the time they had dated, Lavender knew she had a natural beauty.

Finally, Soxy came down the stairs all but dragging Hedwig. Hedwig looked resplendent in yellow robes that matched her eyes and had the black feather stuck in her hair again but the expression on her face was anything but. She looked very uncomfortable and the emotions Harry felt through the link matched. "What's wrong?" Harry asked.

In response, Hedwig plucked at her rear through the robes. "Hedwig no like Knickers," she said with a glare at Soxy. The elf looked defiantly back up at her.

At this point, nothing could faze Harry and he calmly explained. "Today we are going into Diagon Alley. I wouldn't make you wear them, but you need to look proper in public so we don't attract attention."

Hedwig reluctantly nodded. Harry took her arm. "Hold on," he said. "We're going to apparate there." Hedwig had experienced apparation only once as an owl and found it to be decidedly uncomfortable. She took hold of Harry's arm in a vice like grip and whimpered.

* * *

**(((o)))**

* * *

Hedwig's face was an unhealthy shade of green when the two of them popped back into existence. Harry held her gently until she stopped looking like she was going to hurl. "You okay, gi- uh...Hedwig," he asked. It was hard remembering to call her Hedwig as opposed to 'girl'. She wasn't exactly his familiar anymore.

Hedwig straightened up and wobbled slightly but grabbed onto Harry's arm to steady herself. "No more popping…" she pleaded. "Hedwig no like popping."

_Hedwig no like much,_ Harry joked to himself.

Harry glanced around. Before the bloody spell, the last time Harry had been to the Alley was a little over a month ago. He had visited, in spite of his hermitage just to take in the atmosphere. He missed the bustle of the place, and bustling was what it was. Here, the apparation point just behind the Leaky Cauldron seemed to be devoid of people. A quick glance down the Alley told him the same thing. The few people that were there were subdued and hurried from shop to shop to get their shopping done. He had a hard time believing that in just under a month the population of the Alley would have dwindled so much. His belief was leaning more toward an alternate reality more and more.

Regardless, he and Hedwig had errands to run and information to find out. He wanted to see about a wand for Hedwig so he could start teaching her magic and he wanted to check for records of his existence at Gringott's. The two of them kept to the shadows like the other shoppers and quickly made their way toward the end of the Alley where Ollivander's was located. Hedwig seemed to instinctually pick up on the severity of the situation and remained silent and subdued.

As they walked, Harry noticed small squads of men dressed in formal military robes marching down the street. They moved in groups of two to five and all of them wore red armbands with the symbol of a fist clutching two wands on it. He could feel the dark magic almost radiating off of them. Eventually they reached the wand maker's shop and they ducked into the building. Once Harry had shut the door behind him he peered through the slats in the blinds on the door to see if he had been followed. The military wizards had left him with a bad feeling.

"Mr. Potter," a man said from behind him. Harry nearly jumped out of his skin. He whirled around, one hand clutching his heart and the other leveling his wand at Ollivander. Hedwig laughed at him. "I never thought I would see_ you _again."

"Yeah, well…My friend here needs a wand," Harry said as he put his wand away. He didn't want to say anything damning. Harry met the creepy man's stare and felt that his soul was bared to the wand maker. He fidgeted uncomfortably before Ollivander nodded. He was sure that Ollivander somehow knew _everything_ but he was confident that the old man would keep things secret as long as necessary.

Ollivander turned toward Hedwig as his tape measure flew into action then nodded and headed into the stacks of wands. Hedwig giggled as the tape tickled her and pouted when it finished. She obviously liked being tickled. Harry filed that information away for later use. Ollivander then came back, his arms laden with boxes of wands. He dumped them unceremoniously on the counter and smiled at Harry's shocked look. "I have them spelled against breaking, Mr. Potter," he said.

Harry blushed, wondering just how transparent he was.

Ollivander opened the first box and handed the wand to Hedwig. "Nine and a half inches, maple with dragon heartstring from a particularly docile Welsh Green," he said. Hedwig took the wand and simply stared at it. "Go on, give it a wave."

Hedwig did so, and Ollivander's hair stood on end. He frowned. "No…not that one." He took the wand from Hedwig and fished another out of the stack. "Try this one. Eleven inches, oak and a tail hair from a proud female unicorn."

As Hedwig reached for the want, it spewed black sparks from its tip and Ollivander snatched it away before Hedwig could so much as touch it. Ollivander looked determined, like Hedwig was a challenge to be surpassed and she might very well have been. Hedwig just looked confused.

Harry took it upon himself to explain. "He needs to find out what wand works best with you. Those two didn't like you for some reason, but don't worry; he'll find you one." Hedwig nodded.

Ollivander pulled a shiny grey wand from the stack. "Ten inches, ash with a phoenix feather core. Try this one, my dear." No sooner had Hedwig taken the wand did it burst into flames and crumble into ash in her hands. She looked about ready to cry. Harry and Ollivander looked at each other, Harry wondering if he would have to pay for that wand. Ollivander evidently didn't care much. He simply fished another wand from the pile.

An hour later, Hedwig had burst into tears, feelings of inadequacy flowing over the link. Harry was bored, but trying to comfort his friend. Ollivander looked vexed. "Never…in all my time, have I found a challenge such as you, Ms. Hedwig," he said cryptically. "Even Mr. Potter here didn't present as much of a problem."

Hedwig's sobs renewed and Harry glowered at the old man. "You're not helping," he hissed. He rubbed comforting circles on the girl's back.

Ollivander looked thoughtful. "Perhaps…perhaps…yes," he said. He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Ms. Hedwig, may I see that feather in your hair?"

Hedwig looked ready to protest but Harry whispered in her ear, "Trust him, Hedwig. He knows what he is doing."

Hedwig took the feather reverently in her hands and gave it to the old wand maker. "This feather from Harry," she said.

Ollivander looked pleased and puzzled at the same time. "Are you an animagus Mr. Potter?" he asked. Harry nodded. "Ah, excellent. And if I may ask, what kind of tree did Ms. Hedwig like to perch in?"

That did it. Ollivander was officially the creepiest old man on the face of the planet. How he knew everything about his clients, he would never know, but Harry trusted him. "She liked the white willow tree," Harry said slowly.

Ollivander looked like Christmas had come early. "Excellent! I have some willow wood left over in my stores. You have proven to be my most challenging customer yet Ms. Hedwig. Never have I had to custom make a wand for anyone. I thank you," he said excitedly. "Mr. Potter, if you would please come back in an hour I will have your familiar's wand ready."

Harry nodded, thanked the wand maker then led a more cheerful Hedwig out of the shop. It wasn't until the door had shut behind him that he remembered he wanted to ask about the strange military police. He shrugged. _All in good time_. Looking down the alley, he spied Fortescue's Ice Cream shop opening for business. "Would you like to try some ice cream Hedwig?" he asked.

As it turned out, Hedwig adored strawberry ice cream. She was a messy eater, getting the pink treat all over her face, so Harry had to teach her to use a napkin but it didn't dampen the girl's spirit any. While they were eating, he noticed the police were giving the two of them odd looks. He had planned to visit Gringott's for a few pieces to the puzzle of this place but scratched that off his list. The sooner he could get Hedwig's wand and get out of here the better. Still, they took their time. Better to be observant and not look conspicuous.

An hour later, Ollivander was just putting the finishing touches on Hedwig's 'white willow and Harry feather' wand. It was shorter than normal; only about eight inches long and polished to a gleaming shine. "Perfect timing," Ollivander said happily as the shop door closed. Harry found it interesting to note that he made no effort to sneak up on them this time. "I am just about finished with the wand."

Ollivander put another coat of varnish on the wand and magically dried it. "I must say, this is perhaps one the most special wands I have ever crafted. It isn't much for power, but I have no doubt that it will suit you perfectly Ms. Hedwig!" Harry was reminded of a young boy who just finished a special project his father had given him. Ollivander handed Hedwig the wand and she took it with kid gloves. "Go on, give it a wave."

Hedwig did so and giggled with glee as a wind pick up and ruffled her hair and silver and yellow sparks shot from the end. "Wand feels like Harry," she exclaimed hugging it to her chest.

"How much do I owe you?" Harry asked, fishing a handful of galleons out of his pouch. Hedwig entertained herself by shooting sparks and colorful smoke from the end of her wand.

"The standard seven for Hedwig's wand and ten for the ones that need to be repaired." Ollivander said. Harry handed over seventeen galleons with a question in his eyes. "You didn't think a wand could be completely destroyed in _my_ shop, did you Mr. Potter?"

To prove his point, he waved his own wand and the pile of ash that was the phoenix feather and ash wand reformed into the wand. Ten galleons to fix some fifty five ruined wands wasn't a bad deal. "I was a pleasure doing business with you Mr. Ollivander," Harry said.

"You as well, Mr. Potter.

Harry led Hedwig out of the shop and back into the afternoon sun. The girl was happily twirling her wand but stopped suddenly, her sight affixed on something across the street. "Harry...?" she said worriedly.

"I see it," Harry said.

In a recess between the two shops across from the wand shop, a group of the black uniformed men were accosting what looked to be a young mother and her young daughter. They weren't casting any spells; instead they were kicking her as she tried to defend her child. Harry knew that he should ignore it, but everything he was screamed that he needed to help the young woman. He was torn between fleeing and fighting but fleeing was winning. That was until he looked into Hedwig's large pleading eyes. _Damn it all to hell…_

"Stay here," he hissed to Hedwig. She nodded her assent and hid in the dim shadows under the awning covering Ollivander's wand shop while Harry crept across the street.

Finally reaching the altercation, he tapped one of the men on the shoulder. He turned around with a sneer on his face, but it faded away into a look of shock as he focused down the length of Harry's wand. "Three against one…Hardly fair odds. How about I even them up a bit?"

As his first bludgeoning hex ruined the man's face, the only thought going through his mind was, _So much for staying low…_


	3. But I Don't Wanna

Harry was immediately put on the defensive as the other two soldiers turned their wands on him. He shielded himself as he fell back toward one of the numerous long, wooden planters that dotted the shopping center. Two spells, Harry figured them to be _reductos_, impacted the side of the planter and sent wood and soil everywhere and completely ruined Harry's cover. He cursed at himself for choosing something so flimsy to hide behind.

As the splinters of wood and dirt clots rained down, the shoppers in the alley took it as a signal to panic. Harry realized that his initial estimate of fifty to a few hundred shoppers was horridly off. Wizard and witches poured out of the shops, too many to count, and began to run about screaming and flailing like chickens without their heads. The woman he had come to the rescue for was huddled right where she had fallen and was clutching her daughter to her chest. Harry really wished she would get out of here, but didn't want to turn the soldier's attention back on her by trying to tell her as much. He was brought forcefully back to the fight when the ground directly in front of him exploded, peppering him with bits of cobblestone and hurling him to the ground.

He rolled to his feet and fired a barrage of his modified stunners at the two guards, both of whom had been trained well enough not to stand there and shield, but instead, dived out of the way. Harry used the opportunity to take cover behind a substantially more secure stone partition wall in front of the apothecary. He had a clear view of Ollivander's shop from where he was hiding and could clearly see Hedwig clutching her wand tightly in her slight fist. She looked terrified, but determined, as if she were debating on whether or not to help with the fight. Arms waving frantically to get her attention, Harry desperately wanted her to remain safe in the shop.

Hedwig finally looked his way, her yellow eyes wide and questioning. Harry motioned for her to stay put. Or what he thought _meant_ 'stay put'. Fortunately for them both, Hedwig understood his wild gesticulations and hunkered down behind the shop counter again. Unfortunately for Harry, the two soldiers had discovered his hiding spot. However, they didn't immediately start throwing spells.

"Unknown wizard," one of them called. "Drop your wand and surrender yourself. Step out with your hands where we can see them."

By now the alley was mostly deserted. The woman whom Harry had rescued had the good sense to at least scoot further away, though she made no move to get up and run, and a few others had hidden in various shops to watch the confrontation. Hedwig still looked torn between hiding in Ollivander's shop and trying to help. Harry peered further around his cover and saw clearly that one of the wizards had his wand trained directly at the wall while the other seemed to be talking into his lapel pin. It reminded him a bit of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

"Why don't you make me, you steaming piles of thestral shite?" he shouted back. He winced almost as soon as the words had left his mouth wondering if he could be _any_ less mature.

Harry could almost hear the anger emit from the soldiers. He definitely heard the tell tale pops of people apparating in, and the thuds and booms of bludgeoning and blasting hexes impact against his cover. Deciding that a little stealth was in order, Harry tapped himself on the head twice with his wand; once for a normal disillusionment charm and once for his modified one. Without his invisibility cloak, it was the next best thing. He then had the odd sensation of having not one, but two eggs crack over his head and run down his body but frowned when the charms mimicked the eggs and just flowed to his feet and away. The soldiers must have erected wards. That meant not only was invisibility out of the question, but also apparation and portkeys. He wouldn't have run anyway. It wasn't in him to flee and leave not only the person he set out to rescue, but his best friend in danger.

The bludgeoning and blasting hexes continued to pound on the wall, spreading cracks and bringing the structure perilously close to collapsing. "Take him dead or alive," one of the soldiers said. Harry paled nervously. It looked like direct force was the only way to go.

One of the biggest benefits to Harry's custom spells was the lack of a need to vocalize the spell. Since he never intended to teach anyone his spells, he never needed to supply the spell with an incantation. He merely needed to wave his wand and concentrate on casting the spell. This brought the advantage of being able to rapidly fire most of his custom spells without any space between them. He put this to good use as he rolled out from behind his cover and fired a barrage of modified stunners at the soldiers.

This time, not all of them managed to evade the red-violet light. One of them was hit in the thigh as he rolled out of the way and another stupidly put up a simple _protego_ shield. Now, Harry had named his modified stunner the 'Shield Eater' because all but the most powerful of defensive shields (yes there are offensive shields, but Harry didn't know any) would not only break when struck, but increase the speed and power of the spell. The shielded soldier only had a moment to widen his eyes in a panic before his shield shattered like so much glass and blasted him into a storefront. As the glass from the ruined window rained down on the man, Harry could only wince in sympathy that the man was already unconscious.

"Ha!" Harry shouted, pumping his fist in the air in triumph. His victory celebration was cut short however, as jets of multi-colored light shot out from where the other soldiers had taken cover. As Harry dived back behind his ailing partition, he panicked slightly. His opponent's spells had increased in nastiness if the yellow of that bone breaker was any indication. A particularly powerful blasting curse took a good section out of his wall and Harry decided to up his offensive.

Deciding to mix things up again, Harry popped up in the new hole and fired another of his modified spells along with his stunner. This spell was a modification of the _reducto_ hex. Harry was inspired to create this spell while watching a telly show about muggle weaponry. Evidently the muggles had created an explosive shell they dubbed the 'smart shell'. This shell had a small heat sensor in it and would detonate when it got close enough to whatever the gunner had set it to sense for. For example, if the shell detected a roughly human heat source it would then immediately detonate. Harry's modified _reducto_ did much the same thing, only the spell would detonate in the direction of the heat source Harry wanted to blow up.

Most of the soldiers were able to take cover again, but one unfortunate man caught a stunner to the face and collapsed bonelessly to the cobblestones. Two of the soldiers were unlucky enough to be caught in the _reducto_ explosions. One was pounded into the ground while the other was flung bodily from his cover to roll limply across the alley. His uniform was tattered and smoking and Harry could tell by the blood that the man was most dead. The others were smart enough erect shields to protect themselves from the explosions.

As Harry quickly took cover again, he heard something that both filled him with pride and sent a fearful chill down his spine.

"Merlin's beard, is that Potter?" one man shouted fearfully. "I thought he was dead!"

_Dead?_ Harry wondered. _I'm not dead._

A woman answered the man. "He's supposed to be! Lord Malfoy killed Potter himself!"

Fortunately, since this revelation brought with it a slight lull in the fighting, Harry had a little time to think. First, the soldier's exclamation told him two things. First was that the spell had worked, though not in the way Harry thought it would have. He wasn't on another planet per-se, but he was in another _world_. Second was that, evidently, Harry was dead in this world. One of the Malfoy's had somehow killed him. As he pondered what this meant, he saw that the alley looked like a war zone, which, technically, it was. Craters from missed or deflected spells littered the street and store fronts, and there was a still smoking corpse of one of the casualties in the fight.

"Christ, we need the commander," the first soldier shouted. Harry then heard one of the other soldiers talk into his lapel again followed shortly by five other apparation cracks. He sighed and shook his head dejectedly. It looked like he wouldn't be getting away at all easily.

Then, Harry heard a familiar voice that caused him to see red. The woman the voice belonged to conversed in hushed tones with her troops, which Harry only vaguely counted at around eight to ten soldiers. "Potter?!" the woman shouted. "Bullshit!"

"No, Bellatrix," Harry spat from behind the wall. "It's most definitely me." Harry never had the pleasure of apprehending or killing Bella. The slippery woman had all but vanished from the face of wizarding Britain the day Harry had floated Voldemort into the stratosphere. In this world, it seemed that she had reemerged once Malfoy had killed him. His hand gripped his wand tightly as he anticipated finishing things here.

"Wee, baby Potty?" Bellatrix exclaimed almost excitedly. "It really is you, from beyond the grave even?" Harry could hear her clap her hands happily. "Oh goody! I get to kill _you_ this time. I'm sure my wonderful cousin would just love to get together with you."

"Actually, how about I kill _you _instead?" Harry suggested back in a confrontational tone of voice. He jumped out from behind his cover and began to fire a spray of curses, some very dark, at the soldiers and Bellatrix. Bellatrix was wearing a variation on the soldier's uniforms that the other two female soldiers were wearing; basically a black mini-skirt instead of slacks. One of his entrails-expelling curses messily took out an unfortunate soldier and another of the soldiers went down in a screaming spray of blood as his shoulder was decimated by Harry's modified blasting curse before Harry took cover again.

Bellatrix herself had to dodge behind cover since most of the spells were aimed at her. Harry did notice, much to his dismay, that the soldiers worked well together. They paired off; one soldier would focus on casting offensive spells while their partner would shield them. There were four remaining groups, with Bellatrix being the odd-woman-out.

From behind her, Bellatrix taunted Harry. "Oooh," she squealed insanely. "Ickle-baby-Potty finally grew some balls!"

Harry threw himself back behind his wall as his opponents returned fire. This time, Harry could clearly her some of them incant, "_Avada_ _Kedavra,_" and Harry had to abandon his wall as it exploded in a shower of brick and mortar fragments. He sprinted into the apothecary this time, the cashier hiding behind the counter squeaking in fright at his presence. Harry ignored her in favor of planning his next move. It was time to break out the 'big guns' so to speak.

Harry had a spell that he had created, but never used outside of its creation. He called it the 'Holy Lance'. It was a deceptively simple spell that amounted to a thin beam of pure, white magic fired from the end of his wand that would burn through almost anything – or any_one_ in its way. When Harry had first test cast the spell, it had burned a quaffle sized hole through a line of trees behind his house for a good kilometer before losing power and igniting the last tree it struck. He just hoped that no innocent bystanders got in the way.

Leaning slightly out of his cover, Harry sighted a spot on an overturned vendor cart that he knew one of the soldiers was hiding behind. He gripped his wand tightly in both hands and aimed at the cart, focusing his magic into the spell. His wand began to emit a white light and a high pitched whine for a moment before there was a deafening boom and the white energy lanced from the tip of his wand. The cart, being significantly less sturdy than a hundred year old tree, disintegrated into a shower of splinters, while the wizard behind it was all but splattered against the owl shop behind him. The spell was definitely effective on a living target.

Harry forced the queasiness away. It was unfortunately necessary to kill at least a few of them. Harry hoped that they would retreat so he could get the witch and her daughter to safety. She still hadn't gotten up and moved away to Harry's worry.

"What in god's name was _that_?" one of the soldiers shouted. Harry could hear the panic in the man's voice.

"Take that shop apart!" Bellatrix ordered. Immediately, the apothecary was awash in colored lights and explosions as the soldier's spells smashed into the wooden building. The cashier behind the counter screamed loudly as the store shook and rumbled with the force of the spells. Harry grumbled realizing that he had a _fourth_ person to save now; the woman and her daughter, Hedwig and now the cashier girl.

Spotting a lull in the spell barrage, Harry leaned out into the doorway to fire a barrage of his modified blasting curses to pin the soldiers down so he could fire another 'Holy Lance'. One of the soldiers was taken down by a blasting hex and the rest of them took cover again, giving Harry the time he needed to fire the lance. A short whine and another boom later, another of the soldiers was dead, a quaffle sized hole blown through her chest. Almost immediately the spell fire started up again and Harry had to shield his head from the debris. Then there was silence.

It was eerie how quiet everything became. Beyond the ticking of cooling stone, or the creaking of ruined timbers in the building, no other sound was uttered. That is, until Bellatrix broke it. Her voice was changed from how Harry usually heard it. This time, instead of it being mocking and insane, it was angry and demanding. "Drop your wand, Potter, or we'll kill the woman!" she shouted.

Harry only debated with himself for a fraction of a second before stepping out of the ruined apothecary with his hands in the air. He couldn't let that woman, despite how stupid she had been for remaining on her bum the entire fight, to suffer for what he had done. Bellatrix had the whimpering young mother clutched tightly to her, her wand pressed harshly against one of the woman's jugular veins. The woman's daughter lay still in the shadow of the wand shop, but Harry was relieved to see that the girl still breathed. She must have been stunned.

The remaining five soldiers trained their wands on him as he stepped onto the ruined cobblestones. "Alright, Bellatrix, you win," Harry said dejectedly. He looked defeated but inwardly Harry was doing his best to come up with some way to salvage the situation. He glanced around the alley to find something, _anything_ he could use to his advantage when he spied Hedwig still in Ollivander's.

Hedwig was crouched behind the front counter, her head sticking up enough so that just her eyes were above the edge. But those eyes held both fear and the willingness to fight. Harry loathed putting her in danger but realized that he didn't have much choice left. It wouldn't have been the first time his longest friend had come to his aid. He nodded slightly to let her know that it was okay to help in any way possible. Then, he knelt down to place his wand on the street as Hedwig disappeared fully behind the counter, only to reappear creeping toward the slightly ajar door.

Once Harry had placed his wand on the ground, Bellatrix commanded him to kick it toward her. Harry knew that this was suicide. He needed it to be within reach so that once Hedwig had started her attack he could start slinging spells again. But seeing himself once again without much choice, he kicked it lightly away from himself, but also away from the soldiers. The carved holly stick clattered noisily down the alley. "Oops," Harry said as the wand rolled under a planter.

It seemed that Bellatrix was content to ignore the wand so long as Harry didn't have it. A cruel smile played over her lips and she threw the young woman to one of her soldiers who mimicked Bellatrix's position. Bella herself took two steps forward. "I'm _so_ going to enjoy this," she breathed. "_Crucio_!"

Blinding pain seared through every one of Harry's cells. But Harry had had enough experience with this curse to know that the pain wasn't real; it was all in ones mind. The victim's body's reaction to the phantom pain was what caused the damage, as muscles contracted and spasmed, and joints hyper-extended during the agony. Harry gritted his teeth and forced the pain away, though he still fell to one knee. "Is that all you've got," he hissed.

Bellatrix was so surprised that she stopped the curse. Her shocked expression melted into one of pure joy, and Harry became worried. "Oh goody!" Bellatrix shouted gleefully. "Finally, someone who won't go completely insane right away."

_Where the bloody _hell_ was Hedwig, _Harry thought. Another cruciatus slammed into his midsection, this one almost twice the intensity. Harry hissed through his clenched jaw and tasted something coppery in his mouth. He realized that he had bitten his tongue, but he wasn't about to give the psychotic woman torturing himself the satisfaction of a scream. "Pathetic," he managed to grunt.

It seemed that Bellatrix didn't have the patience to carry out a torture session like her former master did. She reacted to defiance with violence, immediately casting a bludgeoning hex point blank into the side of Harry's head. The spell sent him sprawling, stars and colors dancing in his vision. Once he skidded to a stop, Harry tried to get back to his feet as his head throbbed but he found he couldn't. Beyond some of his molars on the right side of his mouth being loose, he couldn't get his legs to move the way he wanted them to. His right leg simply twitched. Where the hell was Hedwig?

Looking up from his prone position as Bellatrix approached him again, Harry could see what was keeping his friend. She hadn't made it very far, having been restrained by one of the soldiers almost as soon as she had emerged from the shop. The girl thrashed and fought her captor and reached out for Harry, but she simply didn't have the strength for it. Harry was sure that Hedwig was screaming his name, but all he could hear was a loud, high pitched whine.

Suddenly, one of the planters shifted and unfolded like a Transformer into a huge wooden golem. The construct waded into the soldiers, pummeling and crushing them as the very cobblestones of the street morphed into hands to hold the people in place. Only two of them, including Bellatrix managed to escape a messy death before the construct's rampage ended. Then Harry was briefly aware of a soft touch on his neck, and Hedwig's near bone crushing hug before unconsciousness mercifully claimed him.

* * *

Harry wasn't sure exactly how long he had been out when he came to, but judging by the dim light filtering in through the window in the room; it was either early morning or late evening. But he was aware of his splitting headache and the soft bed he was lying in. He didn't know where he was, but the way the room was sparsely decorated struck a bell within him. The cream colored walls were bare save for a few landscape paintings while the rest of the room was decorated in a deep red and gold theme. It reminded him of a Gryffindor themed bedroom. Tentatively, Harry swung his feet over the edge of the bed, noticing vaguely that he had been dressed in a pair of white cotton pajamas.

His glasses and, thankfully his wand, had been placed on the cherry wood night stand by the bed. Harry put his glasses on and, being unable to locate his clothes anywhere in the room, transfigured his pajamas into the ensemble he had been wearing before. Then he was aware of some muffled voices outside his door, followed by what sounded like someone running. Before he could prepare himself, the bedroom door burst open and he was assaulted by a silver haired missile that peppered his face with quick kisses.

"Hedwig," Harry protested weakly. "Gerroff."

She ignored Harry, instead sobbing quietly on his shoulder. "Hedwig so sorry," she said between hiccups. "Hedwig could not do anything to help Harry."

Not knowing what else to do, Harry simply held her and stroked the back of her head until she calmed a bit. "It's okay, it's okay," he soothed. "You tried, and I'm very proud of you for that." Hedwig wiped her eyes and smiled wetly up at him before making himself more comfortable in his lap. When she sighed contentedly, Harry realized that he would be on the floor for a while. In an unfamiliar, if rather comfortable room.

"Where are we anyway?" he asked no one in particular.

"You are in my home, Harry," someone said from the doorway.

Harry looked up at his savior and smiled at her. Minerva McGonagall stood in the door frame, dressed in a tartan night gown and slippers with her graying hair let loose down her back. She smiled back at him. "Professor McGonagall," Harry acknowledged her.

"Please Harry, it is Minerva in private," she said fondly. With a wave of her wand, she conjured two cushy chairs, and then levitated both Harry and Hedwig into one. Hedwig giggled softly and started playing with Harry's hair. "How are you feeling?"

"A bit woozy," Harry answered. "How long was I out?"

"Almost three days," McGonagall said. "Fortunately I was able to contact Poppy Pomfrey to take care of your concussion. I have to say," she elaborated. "Hedwig there was most worried about you."

Harry reeled slightly. He had been unconscious for three days? That meant that the eclipse was five days away. Luckily he didn't have anything important to accomplish here. That, and now that he was most likely a wanted criminal here, it would be best to lay low for a few days. He hoped that McGonagall would let him hide out here, in her home, but didn't want to hinge all his plans on that. Still, she had rescued him from Bellatrix. He figured that he owed the professor a life debt if anything. His eyebrows pinched together as he pondered just how the life debt would work once he had left this world.

McGonagall clearing her throat pulled Harry from his thoughts. "I must say, turning your owl human is a remarkable bit of transfiguration," she said. "Though I am a bit disappointed that you would have even attempted it. Is that why you faked your death?"

Harry glanced up at his former teacher and could only see a bit of reproach mixed with an honest curiosity. Flushing slightly, and a bit distracted while Hedwig played with his fringe, Harry tried how best to explain things. "Well," he began quietly. "I guess the first think I should say is…I didn't fake my death."

Hedwig was shaking her head in confirmation.

"What?" McGonagall asked. "You…you mean that it really _was _you in the coffin?" Her eyes widened and Harry could only imagine just what was going through her mind right now.

He hastened to explain. "No! No…It wasn't me," he started. McGonagall's eyes widened even further and she placed a hand over her hear.

"Oh for Merlin's sake," she gasped. "We buried someone else in your stead!?"

"No, Minerva!" Harry shouted. _Damn, wizards and witches had _no_ common sense…_ He reached up to rub his temple to ward off an impending headache, but Hedwig beat him to it and gently massaged his scalp. "You buried Harry Potter for sure. But I _am_ Harry Potter. I didn't come back from the grave, but I am from another world."

"Explain…"

Harry relaxed for a moment, letting Hedwig's soft 'coos' and ministrations relax him. He sighed. "Remember when Albus died; we willed me his library?" he asked. McGonagall nodded. "There was a book in the collection that detailed a spell to open a portal to other worlds. And I…well…tried it."

A look of understanding dawned on McGonagall's face. "And you didn't exactly read the instructions." She really knew her former student well.

Harry nodded. "Well, _I_ thought what it meant by other worlds was other _planets_. I didn't think it meant alternate realities," he explained. "So, I gathered anything I might need, prepared the ritual and cast the spell." Hedwig whimpered softly as Harry shooed her from his lap. He got up and fished his shrunken trunk from his pocket before enlarging it. He then dug through his trunk emerging a few seconds later with the book. Opening it to the page with the transit spell he handed it to McGonagall before taking his seat again. Hedwig immediately took her place in his lap again.

While she read the description of the spell, Harry went on. "As far as I can tell, the only real difference here is that I died by a Malfoy's hands some time ago during one of my visits to Diagon Alley. I'm guessing that it was six months ago?" he asked. McGonagall nodded. "Where I come from, I killed Malfoy instead. By the way, how exactly did he end up in power here?"

McGonagall marked her place in the book and looked at Harry solemnly. "He was already well entrenched in the ministry. After killing you, it was a simple matter of a coup and organizing his followers," she said.

Harry frowned. "That…sucks," he said simply. "Is it as bad as Diagon Alley everywhere?"

"Only to muggleborns," McGonagall said sadly. Harry's frown deepened. "I can't help my curiosity, Harry, but why exactly _did_ you change Hedwig into a human?"

To his credit, Harry flushed with embarrassment. "Well, it was an accident actually," he explained. "Something happened to her in the portal, and when we woke up here, she was human."

McGonagall held the book up and pointed to the bold printed line that advised against taking anything alive.

"I know that _now_," Harry groused. "But it's a bit late to do anything about it, isn't it?"

McGonagall nodded and went back to reading the spell. An uncomfortable silence fell over the room like a wet blanket before Hedwig broke it.

She repositioned herself on Harry's lap and brought her face so close to his that their noses were touching. Harry noted vaguely that Hedwig's breath was minty fresh. "Harry okay?" Hedwig asked in her sing-song voice.

Harry smiled at her. "Harry okay," he parroted. "Hedwig okay?"

Hedwig paused and looked thoughtful, glancing at the ceiling as if looking for something in the air. "Hedwig was worried about Harry," she said. "Hedwig always worries for Harry."

Harry wrapped his friend in a hug. "Thank you, Hedwig," he said thickly. When he let her go, she, on an impulse, gave Harry a kiss on the cheek before settling back in his lap more comfortably. Harry couldn't help the blush that colored his cheeks. He just got kissed, though chastely, by his former owl. Only him…

"So, the spell will reactivate come the solar eclipse in five days then?" McGonagall asked.

Harry ruthlessly stuffed his thoughts about Hedwig away for another time to answer. "Uh…yeah. As far as I can tell it'll just pull me home when the time comes," he said. He paused, frowning with worry. "I'm more worried about Hedwig. I know she wasn't supposed to come in the first place, but will the spell take her back with me?"

"I would assume so," McGonagall said. "But I can't say for certain. I had never heard about this spell before now."

There were times that Harry swore he had a sixth sense for when situations would grow out of his control. It had started in his fourth year, right before his name had been spit from the goblet of fire. Then again, before the incident with the Dementors before fifteenth birthday, though it could have just been the Dementors themselves. Regardless, both times, and again just before he had 'defeated' Voldemort, Harry had a prickling feeling at the base of his neck. All three times, things rapidly became FUBAR. Thinking back to what McGonagall had said about 'the eclipse in five days', he had the feeling again.

"No." He said bluntly.

McGonagall blinked bemusedly. "Pardon me, Harry?"

"I said, no," Harry repeated.

"No what?"

"No I won't take Malfoy down," Harry said stubbornly.

The confused and startled expression on McGonagall's face was almost priceless. "How- how did you know what I was going to ask?"

Harry sighed and gritted his teeth. "I just knew somehow," he growled. Hedwig picked up on his distress and began to kiss his neck and jaw softly in an attempt to calm him down. It really wasn't helping; only getting him agitated in a different, but better way.

McGonagall spluttered for a moment before regaining her composure. "But Harry, you have to," she protested. "You're the only one who can!"

"Bullshit!" Harry argued back. "That right there is part of the reason I went into seclusion; people always wanting me to solve their problems for them. This isn't even my world!"

"Please Harry," McGonagall begged. "Malfoy has everyone but the purebloods so brow-beaten that no one will even consider fighting back. With your unique situation-"

Harry abruptly stood and snatched his book from the startled woman's hands. "I said no, and I meant no," he seethed, putting the book back in his trunk and shrinking it again. He put it back in his pocket then walked over and took Hedwig's hand before dragging her out of the room. "Thank you for saving us," he said curtly.

He ignored McGonagall's feeble attempts to call him back before exiting the wards of the house and apparating back to his home.

* * *

It wasn't a day later before Harry apparated back to Minerva's house, a resigned scowl on his face and Hedwig in tow.

"Fine," he bit out, when McGonagall answered the door. "But you owe me one."

_Damn his 'saving people thing'…_


	4. McGonagall For Minister!

The vast majority of the afternoon was spent helping McGonagall hide her house under the _fidelius_ charm. Harry and Hedwig may have only had five and a half more days in this dimension, but Harry didn't want his former professor to be in any danger simply because she saved his life. They decided to make McGonagall herself the secret keeper, since Harry would be leaving and the charm would collapse once he left. Hedwig was right out as a choice since she didn't understand the magic and while Harry trusted his friend with is life, he didn't trust her with any secrets just yet.

The charm was fairly simple in its execution but complex in its own way. Much like his anti-gravity charm, the fidelius charm needed to be cast on a series of runes. These runes were difficult insomuch as they couldn't be carved on anything, but had to be free floating. The reason the spell was used so little, was that very few people in the world had the power to make long lasting, free floating runes. Even Harry doubted that his runes would last for very long, but he was confident that they would last long enough to keep McGonagall safe.

Following afternoon tea, Harry began. He traced the perimeter of the house, placing the five necessary runes at the points of an invisible pentagram. After tracing the five runes in the air, leaving them floating as a red after glow, Harry felt the first strains on his magic. He felt slightly dizzy from using so much, so quickly, but waved McGonagall and Hedwig's concerns off. He would be fine. Finally, after weaving the charm into the runes, Harry and McGonagall went into the house to complete the casting. Hedwig had to remain outside, for anyone not involved in the casting of the charm could have their mind wiped by the spell and stood a very good chance of ending up with permanent spell damaged to their psyche.

The binding of the spell to the secret keeper was much like taking an oath. McGonagall held her wand up while Harry chanted the long and complex incantation, ending forcefully with the word, "_FIDELIUS!_"

The tip of McGonagall's wand glowed brightly for a moment before dimming just a quickly. Harry's mind felt like it was full of cotton since he was inside the dwelling without having been told the secret. He shook his head briefly to clear it to no avail. "Well, it's done," he said drunkenly. "Now, mind telling me where you live so I can get rid of this fuzzy feeling in my head?"

McGonagall gave a very uncharacteristic smirk. "Oh, I don't know," she drawled. "Maybe I'll let you suffer for what you put me through at school."

"Minerva…" Harry pleaded as the room began to spin. "Please?"

McGonagall sighed and rolled her eyes, a rueful smile on her face before leaning over to whisper the location of her house in Harry's ear. He sighed with relief as the cottony feeling vanished.

"Thank you…" he said.

Harry went out to collect Hedwig who was staggering around in a panic, since the _fidelius_ magically made her forget where Harry was. She was his lifeline in this strange world and his absence was horrible for her. McGonagall whispered the secret to her too.

* * *

**(((o)))**

* * *

Harry's plan was a simple one and was distinctly _non-_Gryffindor. He planned (planned being the key word) on using his owl form to scout things out by flying around the major wizarding conduits in wizarding England; Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley, then the Ministry. He wanted to find out if things were as bad as his confrontation with Bellatrix and the soldiers had made it out to be, or if it was an isolated incident since _he_ was Harry Potter. Things like that always happened to him. His initial plan was to locate Malfoy and subdue, or kill him if necessary by storming the ministry, but McGonagall informed him scathingly that it was a "recklessly stupid, Gryffindor plan" and that he should change it. So change it he had, and his owl form was what he had come up with.

The next morning, Harry woke early and wolfed a breakfast down. McGonagall woke when Harry was about half way done eating with a bleary eyed, disheveled Hedwig in tow. He said goodbyes all around and then went outside to apparate away while McGonagall set about teaching Hedwig to control her new magic.

The ominous thud and flash of light from the windows of the house did nothing to reassure him.

Harry spent the entirety of the day observing. From his vantage point perched on the eave of a shop, Harry saw that Diagon Alley was as subdued as the day before. People rushed to get their daily business done, hurrying from store to store and out of sight of the ever present guards. In the three or so hours that Harry spent there, he didn't see any other altercation like the one he had been involved in. He recognized a few people. Dennis Creevey and his fiancée Romilda Vane went by a group of soldiers without being accosted, though they kept their heads low and hurried along. He saw Cho Chang walking the lane too. But no one was attacked or harassed like the woman and her daughter had been that first day.

The only conclusion Harry could come to then, was that the woman had done something wrong. Nothing, however in Harry's mind warranted such treatment, especially toward a young mother. Realizing that he would most likely not find anything else here, Harry swooped down into an empty alleyway to change back to a human and apparate to his next destination; Hogsmeade.

The all wizarding village on the outskirts of Hogwarts was much the same as Diagon Alley. Few people were out and about, but those that were rushed to their destinations before rushing back to their homes or apparating away and the same black suited, red armband wearing soldiers patrolled here too. Flying through the owl access in the Three Broomsticks, Harry saw that the pub was doing business as usual. The atmosphere was subdued but the building was packed as usual.

Needing another business to compare the pub to, Harry changed back to a human before disguising himself with a few concealment charms. His hair was now a dirty blond and his eyes were a nondescript brown. Then, Harry headed to Honeyduke's candy shop. It would be another good place to gauge things in the village.

The bell above the door jingled as Harry entered the warm shop. Harry returned the old man behind the counter's greeting as he surveyed the inside of the store. It was business as usual in the candy store too. People seemed a bit happier as they made their purchases of candy and other sweets. Harry left the store with a small frown on his face.

Harry didn't spend too much time in Hogsmeade but he was rapidly coming to a conclusion. Things didn't seem all that bad. People were subdued, and beyond that first incident in Diagon Alley (which involve him, and should be discounted, since Harry always seemed to attract trouble), were thriving. Businesses seemed to be doing well, there was peace, albeit forced, and there was no dark lord murdering people.

The frown on his face deepening, Harry apparated to the ministry.

His first real shock of the day came when he realized that he had simply apparated into the ministry. Sure, he could always do that, but with the way things were; heightened security and subdued atmosphere and all, Harry had thought he would have ended up in some sort of check point. But no, once again, it was business as usual in the governmental building. Ministry employees spilled out of the fireplaces or apparated in behind him before bustling over the polished obsidian floors toward the lifts to go wherever they happened to be needed.

Harry decided to go through with his initial plan. He took the visitors entrance back up to the London streets before changing back into an owl. It only took a minute to locate Lucius Malfoy before Harry took to the air with the 'intent' on delivering a letter to him. Harry let his instincts guide him through the ministry building, unsure if there was a mail room of sorts that owls were directed to. Sure enough, at least that much of a security measure was in place, and Harry found himself in an owlery with a multitude of hooting and screeching owls. He fluttered to the floor where a harassed looking ministry employee was hurriedly gathering, sorting sending the letters, notes and packages to various other employees.

The middle-aged man startled when Harry fluttered down to the floor. "Hello, you handsome bird," he said kindly. "Have you a letter for me?"

Feeling at least a little remorse, Harry changed back and quickly stunned the man before he could utter a word. "Sorry, mate," he said before quickly using his disillusionment spell and layering it with his cloak. Suitably stealthed, Harry then made his way out into the building proper.

It didn't take long to find the Minister's office, but unfortunately it was locked. Through the picture windows inset in the doors, Harry could make out a secretary furiously scribbling on a parchment. He knocked lightly, hoping that she would get up to investigate. She did, but she didn't open the door, instead only peaking through the windows and looking back and forth. Seeing no one in the corridor waiting at the door, she shrugged and went back to her paperwork.

Harry bit back a curse and tried again, this time with his wand ready. He readied himself as the plump blonde woman approached the doors again and as she neared, he quickly cast a low powered _imperius_ curse.

He had long ago learned that Voldemort's creed, 'There is no good an evil, only power and those too weak to seek it', held some truth. Spells themselves weren't inherently good or evil. The person who used the spells, however was a different matter. A righteous person could use an _Avada Kedavra_ to protect his family, as much as a criminal could use a _Patronus_ to defend himself from Dementors. That is, if the criminal could dredge up enough hope, and happiness to cast the spell, but that's beyond the point. The criminal could still cast it. Very few spells would actually corrupt and Harry made it a point to steer clear of those.

Thus, Harry had delved into the unforgivables. He still couldn't cast a proper _Cruciatus_ curse, since he rarely wished someone to suffer, and only once, during the fight with Voldemort, had he hated enough to cast an _Avada Kedavra_. And even then, he had immediately felt dirty afterward. The _imperius _curse though, was a handy tool.

As her eyes glazed over, Harry mentally ordered her to open the door so he could slip in. Once he was in the room, he dropped the _imperius_ and stunned her. Harry then crept up to the open office of the minister. There, Harry got his first glimpse of the man the Lucius Malfoy had become.

Holding the position of Minster for Magic hadn't treated the man well. He looked visibly stressed; his normally long platinum blonde hair was lank and dull. His eyes were sunken and had bags beneath them, and the man was muttering to himself as he paced in his office. Harry almost pitied him. _Almost…_

Lucius Malfoy was a wreck. That much was clear, but he was still one of the best Ministers for Magic that the country had ever seen. Still, something had to change.

"You have really bolloxed things up, haven't you?" Harry said from beneath his invisibility cloak.

Malfoy glanced up from his paperwork in a panic, and Harry could tell just how badly the pureblood was handling his new station. "Who-who's there?" Malfoy shouted.

Harry whipped his cloak off and dispelled the disillusionment charm. He kept his wand gripped tightly in his hand, readying for and expecting a fight. No stranger to death, Harry was fully prepared to have to kill this man to fix things. What happened, however, was anything but climactic. Lucius Malfoy's eyes widened to the point that Harry thought his grey eyes would fall from the sockets. He leveled a shaky finger in Harry's direction before Malfoy's eyes rolled up into his skull and he withered to the floor in a dead faint.

Unable to help himself, Harry started to laugh as he lowered his wand and reined his magic back in. "Huh…That was unexpected."

Obviously the stress Malfoy was under was on Harry's side. The pureblood dictator was simply overwhelmed in seeing someone he thought to be dead and buried standing before him, alive and right as rain.

Harry ducked down to check and see if the man was still alive. He was fortunately, for Harry needed Lucius for the next part of his plan. A quick _imperius_ curse brought the scion of the Malfoy family under his control, and Harry could feel the man, even in his unconscious state, only fight the curse feebly before giving in. Harry gave his order. "You are to immediately disband your police and appoint your successor," Harry commanded. He suggested someone, but left the decision up to Malfoy. It wasn't Harry's place to choose.

As soon as he felt the command seat itself in Lucius' mind, Harry quickly obliviated all traces of his presence from his memory and left the same way he came, making sure to wake the secretary and mail clerk.

* * *

**(((o)))**

* * *

The sight that greeted Harry upon his return brought him up short. McGonagall's house was full of thick, billowing orange smoke and Harry could hear someone coughing from the dining room. "Hello?" he called tentatively.

McGonagall came staggering from the dining room with Hedwig in tow, the professor's hair sticking up at odd angles all over her head. Hedwig looked contrite and had a death grip on her wand, which was emitting the odd orange smoke from its tip. McGonagall thrust the girl at Harry with a scowl on her face and stumbled off to the loo.

Harry turned to look at Hedwig. "What…?" He asked before trailing off. The platinum haired girl just looked at her feet in embarrassment, her cheeks a bright red color. Harry noticed that there was some orange powder both in her hair and on her robes. "What were you trying to cast?" he finally asked.

Hedwig was silent for a moment; her only movement was the scuffing of her buckled boots on the carpet. "Levitation charm…"

It took everything Harry had not to laugh at Hedwig's expense. Fortunately he was saved by McGonagall's return. He looked at her questioningly before his shaky resolve broke. McGonagall's hair was still sticking up at odd angles. A double threat against his manhood and life managed to get him to calm down enough to ask his former professor what had happened. McGonagall offered Harry a seat on the relatively clean sofa in the sitting room.

"It would seem that Hedwig's spells only function correctly eighty percent of the time. The other twenty…" McGonagall paused with a tortured look on her face. "This orange powder and smoke is one of the…lesser effects I have been subjected to. My most educated guess," she began, doing her best to ignore Harry's occasional sniggers. "Is that Hedwig's magic hasn't settled yet. You mentioned that she has only been human for three days now, correct?"

Harry nodded, still fighting the giggles. Hedwig fidgeted next to him on the couch and Harry began to busy himself with cleaning the strange orange powder off of her. "What about changing her back into an owl?" he asked, casting a light wind charm to get the last vestiges of the powder out of Hedwig's hair. She squinted as the air dried her eyes, but didn't look away.

McGonagall shrugged. "Honestly, it is too early to tell," she answered. "It is not innate, if that is what you are wondering. It may be that she has to train herself like a normal animagus would have to. It may come naturally once she has complete control of her magic. I really do not know."

* * *

**(((o)))**

* * *

Two before the eclipse, the Daily Prophet released a special issue, proclaiming the end of the Malfoy Regime.

_Minister Malfoy to Disband Police Force and Name Successor!_

_By Penelope Clearwater_

_Early this morning, Minister by political takeover, Lucius Malfoy announced that hence forth, his secret police force would be hereby disbanded and the normal Auror Corps reinstated. He also announced his resignation and placement of an interim Minster to be named later._

_A year and a month ago, as we all remember, Harry Potter was confirmed as dead, and Lucius Malfoy instigated his political coup with thrust him into power. Almost immediately, he instated his own police, headed by his sister-in-law and former Death Eater, Bellatrix LeStrange, and began to pass anti-muggleborn and magical being laws._

_Earlier this week, another of the numerous Harry Potter sightings was reported. What was strange about this one, however, was the fact that it was after his death. Who was this man who stood up to the police? Was it really Harry Potter returned from the grave to save his country? Did this man have anything to do with Minister Malfoy's sudden decision to disband his police force? No one seems to know, and Minister Malfoy refrained from commenting…_

"Huh…" Harry said noncommittally, handing the paper back to McGonagall, who's hair was back under control. The article went on about whether or not the laws would be appealed, but honestly, Harry didn't care. He had accomplished his goal.

"You never did say what you did, Harry," she said.

Harry shrugged. "I simply convinced him to leave office. No blood shed no violence."

McGonagall took a seat at the table with Harry and Hedwig, the latter of whom was messily eating her breakfast. She still hadn't gotten the hang of using a fork.

"Yes, but what _did_ you do?" McGonagall asked intently.

Harry pushed his own eggs around on his plate looking distinctly uncomfortable. "You probably wouldn't approve," he said quietly.

"Try me," McGonagall retorted equally as soft but leaning forward in interest. "I'm proud that you didn't take his life though, Merlin knows, the man deserves death for what he has done."

Harry prodded at his breakfast a bit more and handed Hedwig a napkin before answering. "I put him under the _imperius_," he said. "He isn't doing this willingly."

McGonagall could only blink as she sat back in her chair heavily.

"Told you," Harry said. "Once we leave, the spell will be lifted, but the damage will be done. A new ministry should be in place and Malfoy won't stand a chance."

Harry watch as McGonagall pondered something, and he honestly expected to have to defend his actions. But what happened took him by surprise. "Thank, Harry."

"Thank me?"

McGonagall graced him with a rare, genuine smile. The last time he had seen it was the day he had defeated Voldemort. "Yes, thank you. You came here by accident, and you could have remained in hiding. Instead, you decided to help correct a wrong that was caused by…well, your death. I don't think I, or England in general can thank you enough, Harry."

Harry blushed in spite of himself. "I just couldn't leave well enough alone," he said. "Back during my fifth year before Sirius…died, Hermione once said that I had a 'saving people thing'. She was more right than she knew."

Hedwig had stopped eating, her breakfast forgotten as she watched the conversation like a tennis match.

"So what are you going to do now?" McGonagall asked. "You only have two days left, correct?"

"Well, I was hoping that you could help Hedwig with her magic some more."

Hedwig giggled at McGonagall's horrified expression but quieted down when Harry raised his eyebrow at her.

"I'll take that as a no, then," Harry lamented.

"Even if I wanted to," McGonagall said. "I couldn't." She handed Harry a letter she had received that morning. It bore the seal of the Ministry of Magic of England. "I assume you had something to do with this?"

When Harry finished reading the letter, which didn't take long as the political talk made his brain hurt, he asked, "So you are going to take the job then?"

McGonagall nodded. "I'll only be and interim minister, like the article said. An election will be held once things settle down." She paused and looked at Harry thoughtfully. "Why did you pick me?"

Harry handed the letter back to McGonagall and started cleaning Hedwig's face, since she made no effort to do so herself. It seemed it had been her plan all along, since she looked triumphant at Harry's attention. "I didn't pick you," Harry said, doing his best to ignore Hedwig's content cooing. It was making him feel weird. "Malfoy did. I merely suggested you."

"Why me though?"

Once Harry finished cleaning Hedwig, he shrugged before Hedwig climbed into his lap and cuddled into his chest. He sighed at the girl but couldn't bring himself to shoo her away. "I honestly don't know. It was a toss up between you or Kingsley, who is minister in my world."

"Kingsley Shacklebolt?" McGonagall asked pensively. "Is he any good?"

Harry shrugged again as Hedwig began to play with his hair. "I couldn't tell you. Hermit, remember?"

McGonagall nodded her understanding then started in on her own breakfast during the silence that followed.

"So you really won't help Hedwig learn to use her magic?" he asked after a moment. The scathing glare he received in response was all the answer he needed.

* * *

**(((o)))**

* * *

McGonagall returned the next day from her first day as interim Minister with good news. The Aurors had been successfully reinstated and had arrested both Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange for crimes against the country and war crimes. Also, she informed Harry that the horrible laws that had been passed during Malfoy's reign were being repealed. She also informed him that preparations for the next election were already underway, and the first candidate was Kingsley Shacklebolt. It was good news for Harry and managed to cheer him up, at least until Hedwig neatly turned him into a toad trying to cast the _aguamenti_ charm.

Finally, the day of the eclipse arrived, and Harry set about gathering his things. He decided to take this dimension's cloak, as well as the duplicate wand, which had been in the ministry's custody since his death. A few more newspaper articles had been published speculating on the 'Harry Potter Phantom' that had saved the girl and her daughter in Diagon Alley that first day. But no one really believed that he had resurrected, so to speak, so the wand was released in to the control of the minister, who gave it back.

It felt odd Harry, having the wand greet him like it had on the day he purchased it when he was eleven. But it wasn't an uncomfortable feeling however. Casting two spells simultaneously, though, was uncomfortable since the drain on his magic was almost unbearable. He vowed not to do that again.

Since Harry had plenty of money with him in his trunk, and he couldn't very well take it with him, Harry gave his house and fortune to Soxy, Wiggy and Rumpo. Rumpo was overcome with emotion and promptly passed out.

At last, the eclipse began, and Harry could feel the drain on his magic as the spell reinitialized. It was with relief that he realized Hedwig would be taken along, since she said she also felt a pull. Harry gathered his things on McGonagall's lawn, Hedwig clinging tightly to his side. McGonagall was there to see him off, and in distinctly non-McGonagall fashion, was crying.

"I never did get the chance to say this before, Harry," she said. Her voice was steady despite the tears leaking from her eyes. "But, you were probably my favorite student. I will miss you."

Harry smiled at her. "Thanks Minnie," he said cheekily. McGonagall frowned good-naturedly, but didn't scold him for the nickname. "I'll miss you too."

Then, the sky darkened as the moon completely covered the sun. Runes burst to life in blue light around Harry and Hedwig and the same lightning began to arc up into the sky. Both of them were grateful that the lightning seemed to be giving them a wide berth this time, since when the lightning had struck them the last time, not only had it hurt, but it had altered Hedwig. Next, the black hole formed above Harry's head and he managed to get one last look at McGonagall before they were sucked up into the aether between dimensions.

* * *

**(((o)))**

* * *

The first thing that Harry realized when he came to was that he had grass in his mouth. Spitting it out, he managed to stagger up onto his knees and glanced about blearily, his vision blurry since his glasses had fallen off his face. It was one of the things he hated the most about himself, relying on the glasses. He started scrabbling around in the grass for them before he noticed a small, blurry, white shape drop them in the grass by his knees. Quickly putting them on his face, he noticed that the small, blurry, white shape was an owl.

"Hedwig?" he asked in astonishment. The owl seemed to bob its head. Taking a chance, he touched upon the familiar bond he had with his owl. _Can you understand me?_

He received an affirmative answer in response.

"Well, that was an adventure," he said to no one in particular. Hedwig fluttered up and perched up on his shoulder. "Can you change into a human?"

Hedwig seemed to concentrate, then send a negative reply. Harry was momentarily glad, since she had tried to change on his shoulder.

"Do you feel anything different at all?" he asked. Hedwig bobbed her head, saying that she did but Harry hadn't the first clue how to find out what it was.

"So its over then," he said, once again to no one in particular. It was an interesting trip, to be sure. He was glad that the dimension he had visited wasn't too different from his own. From the bit of magical theory on alternate realities he had read, alternate dimensions could be radically different. He had lucked out.

But something was still bothering him. As he surveyed the landscape, he realized that he was nowhere near McGonagall's house. In fact, if he was correct, he was on the Hogwarts grounds. Why had the spell dropped them here of all places? When he had first cast the spell, Soxy, Rumpo and Wiggy told him that they found him and Hedwig slumped in the study in his house. Now, he was on the Hogwarts grounds, but something was horribly wrong.

Beneath his feet, where there should be lush green grass, it being summer and all, there was only barren earth with a few weeds and shrubs dotting the landscape. Looking up, Harry saw that the sky was mostly cloudy, and that the sky itself was a blood red color.

"Why don't you scout around and let me know what you see, Hedwig," he told his owl.

Hedwig leaned against him fondly before taking off into the sky, albeit a bit clumsily since she had been human for a few days. Harry watched her go before setting out to discover on his own. It wasn't long before he wished he hadn't.

There on the cliffs before him, like a burned out skeleton, stood the ruins of what could only be Hogwarts Castle. The stones were blackened in places, as if huge fireballs had impacted the walls. From his vantage point, he could see that Gryffindor tower had been demolished and the entry hall had collapsed. To his right, the black lake was nothing more than a small pond, and all around him, the forbidden forest was slowly encroaching on the once immaculately groomed lawns. Even further down the valley, the once bright village of Hogsmeade was nothing more than a burned out ruin itself.

Harry sank to his knees before punching the hard, unyielding earth in anguish. All he got for his effort was torn and bruised knuckles. "Bloody hell!" he shouted.

In response to his shout, he heard a staccato of pops heralding people apparating in. Harry was in no mood to be diplomatic, and drew his wand, turning to face the newcomers. There, looking on in disdain, was a group of no less than ten death eaters. Their white masks stood out in stark contrast to the red sky.

"Identify your self," the one Harry assumed was the leader said.

Harry just gripped his wand tighter and prepared for a fight.

He wasn't home at all…

* * *

A/N: Well, the first world is done. I have a few more planned. ...not much else to say here. This isnt much of an authors note, is it...?

* * *


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